About the AuthorJeff Kagan

There has been quite a bit of churn in the waters around Uber during the last few years. Now that founder Travis Kalanick is no longer CEO, what does the future look like for the company, workers, drivers, investors and customers? Will Uber continue to grow and lead, or has it seen its best days? Most people connected to the company probably would say the same thing: They want calm but rapid growth.

Amazon’s plan to buy Whole Foods Market has raised many new questions. If the company is successful in making the acquisition, and then successful in operating the business, it could transform the entire grocery industry. If we pull the camera back, we can see how success on the grocery side could foreshadow Amazon’s success in many other parts of the retail environment.

Amazon recently launched its Echo Show, which brings a visual screen to its smart speaker device. I wonder whether we’re ready to start living in what seems like a futuristic Star Trek world. The Echo Show experience is sort of like having a laptop sitting on your table — one that uses AI, allows you to speak to it, speaks back to you, and shows you relevant things on its screen.

A few short years ago, Netflix was nothing more than a mail order Blockbuster-type video rental business. Since then, it has been growing rapidly and changing. Believe it or not, Netflix today has more U.S. subscribers than cable TV. That’s an amazing accomplishment for Netflix — and a major hit to traditional cable television. Netflix and cable TV are on opposite sides of the growth wave.

During a recent grocery checkout conversation, the cashier asked me which was the best wireless service and best smartphone. This is a question I get frequently, and though it seems straightforward, it’s difficult to answer. As I told the cashier, it depends. “On what?” she asked. That’s when I realized that the industry’s marketing doesn’t answer the big question: “Which carrier is best for me?”

Comcast has led the way in cable television ever since it acquired AT&T Broadband a decade ago. However, in recent years, new technologies from new competitors have been eating away at Comcast’s growth. That’s why Comcast not only has introduced Xfinity Mobile, which is its new wireless service, but also is getting ready to launch its own IPTV service, Xfinity Instant TV.

Charter Spectrum has announced it will resell Comcast’s Xfinity Mobile wireless service to customers inside its region. The good news is that this deal lets Charter get quick access to wireless without competing with Comcast. Comcast and Charter Communications last week said they had reached an “operational agreement” about working together.

Cable TV has been facing mounting attacks from new technologies and new competitors. C Spire recently joined the action, announcing plans to enter the pay-TV space. It’s not yet clear what C Spire TV will be, or how it will impact the marketplace. What we know so far is that C Spire is a regional player in Mississippi, so the service won’t be available throughout the U.S.

Every time I walk into a retail store, I grumble about the same pet peeve. After walking the aisles and filling the basket, you then must go through the most inefficient checkout process. First you unload everything in your basket, then it’s rung up, then you put the items in bags that go back into your basket before you can walk out of the store. There must be a better way.

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has earned a reputation for having a short fuse. In addition to his apparent personal anger management issues, there are the stresses that come with running a giant company — and Uber recently has been losing executives. When it rains, it pours. What’s happening with Kalanick, and can Uber recover its mojo? Many people have issues with anger, but few are in the spotlight.

Following decades of slow movement due to cable companies facing no competition, the television world is changing rapidly. Lots of challengers have arisen in the pay-TV space in recent years. One of the latest comes from Verizon, which has improved its FiOS mobile app to offer data-free streaming. AT&T’s DirecTV started this ball rolling with its wireless TV, or mobile TV, offering.

Both companies and individuals will have incredible opportunities ahead with the Internet of Things. IoT is starting to combine with AI, cloud-based services, and many other new segments, creating a very fertile growing field. However, it also poses a growing threat for security. A secure IoT framework does not yet exist. That’s where the new IoT Cybersecurity Alliance comes into play.

Is your Android phone secure? President Donald Trump’s favorite smartphone reportedly is an older Android device. Security concerns flared recently, following indications that he sent some tweets from it. Of course, the president has been given a special secure device, but it’s not clear whether he is using it. My question is, if the president is not secure using an ordinary phone for his primary wireless communications… are any of us?

Wireless, telecom and pay TV — including cable, satellite and Internet services — are all on a growth trajectory, but each company is taking a different path. That means comparing them will be more difficult going forward. In the past, the companies in these sectors in many respects looked the same and offered nearly the same basic services. Looking forward however, things appear very different.

Do your customers come first? Companies spend a fortune to win and keep their customers. They advertise and market their products and services like crazy. Because of that cost, you would think every company would want to keep its customers happy. It’s more cost-effective to keep an existing customer than to win a new one. If that’s the case, why do some companies screw up customer care so badly?

Which wireless carrier is best? Many studies are undertaken every year, and while they are interesting and accurate, they often are not that useful in selecting the best carrier for you. Why? Simple. They are generic studies, but you are not a generic customer. If wireless performance were the same for every customer in every location, then the studies would be helpful — but that’s not the case.